JPH0934488A - Voice operating device for car on-board apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the rate of voice acknowledgement by configuring so that a specifying means is operated by the physical motion of an operator and an individual operating means is operated by the voice of the operator, and thereby lessening the number of voice directions. SOLUTION: A steering wheel 1 is furnished with six manual switches 2a-2f as a specifying means to feed a control part 3 with a command signal to specify the object operated among six on-board apparatus such as audio appliance, air-conditioner, etc. The audio appliance and air-conditioner are specified as the object to be operated by pushing the respective switches 2a and 2b, and the remaining apparatus can be specified alike from the switches 2c-2f. A voice acknowledgement part 6 is equipped with a dictionary changeover part 8 to select the applicable voice acknowledging dictionary among six voice acknowledging dictionaries 7a-7f in accordance with the manual switch which is depressed and a talk division sensing part 9 for the voice fed from a microphone 10. The voice acknowledement part 6 presumes the intention of the talk and sends the presuming result to the control part 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a voice operation device suitable for operating on-vehicle equipment such as an on-vehicle audio device and an air conditioner device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, many kinds of operation switches such as audio devices, air conditioners, car telephones, navigation devices, etc. have been installed in automobiles and the number of these operation switches has increased remarkably. It is impossible to place the car in a position where the driver can operate easily. Further, switches that are accompanied by movement of the line of sight in the operation are not preferable for safe driving.

Therefore, conventionally, a remote control switch of a vehicle-mounted device is attached to a steering wheel (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-247228), or the vehicle-mounted device is controlled by voice command input.

[0004]

However, the steering switch is effective when there are few operation commands (for example, only when the volume of the audio device is increased or decreased).
When the number of devices to be operated or the number of commands for each device increases, switches are required for the number of commands, which makes it impossible to arrange all the switches in a space limited in layout. In addition, the number of switches is large, which makes the operation difficult.

On the other hand, in the case of voice command input, there is a problem in that the voice recognition rate decreases when the number of commands (that is, the number of vocabularies) is large. In addition, even if the operator is a beginner, or if the operator is not a beginner, he / she has a problem peculiar to the voice operation in that the command word is difficult to understand when instructing a function that is not frequently used. In addition, in order to prevent erroneous recognition, a method has been adopted in which a trigger switch for detecting the utterance section is provided and the trigger switch is pressed to speak.
This method has a drawback that the operation is troublesome.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a voice operation device for an in-vehicle device which effectively solves the above-mentioned problems.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a voice operation device for an on-vehicle device, wherein a control means for remotely controlling a plurality of on-vehicle devices and a command signal for designating an operation target device are sent to the control means. The designating operation means for outputting and the individual manipulation means for outputting a command signal to each of the operation target equipment devices designated by the designating operation means to the control means are provided, and the designation operation means is operated by the physical motion of the operator. The individual operating means is operated by the voice of the operator.

Here, the designated operation means actuated by the physical action of the operator means switches operated by an action other than voice, for example, by the hand of the operator.

Further, as described in claim 2, a plurality of recognition target word storage means (speech recognition dictionary) for storing recognition target words respectively corresponding to a plurality of vehicle-mounted devices, and the designation operation means are designated. It is preferable to include a switching unit that switches the recognition target word storage unit according to the device.

Further, as described in claim 3, the control means discriminates an operation mode of the designated operation means, and based on this discrimination, command execution by the command signal of the individual operation means and the individual operation means. It is preferable to have a function of selecting execution of preset instruction that does not depend on the command signal of.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided utterance section detecting means for detecting a period during which voice is being input to the individual operating means, and the utterance section detecting means operates in accordance with the operation of the designated operating means. It is preferably activated.

Further, as described in claim 5, it is preferable that a command word for operating the individual operating means is displayed on the head-up display.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a voice operation device for an on-vehicle device, comprising: a control means for remotely controlling a plurality of on-vehicle devices; and a designation operation means for outputting a command signal for designating a device to be operated to the control means. An individual operation means for outputting a command signal to each of the devices designated by the designation operation means to the control means, and a plurality of speech recognition target word storage means provided for each equipment corresponding to the plurality of in-vehicle equipments. And a switching means for switching the plurality of speech recognition target word storage means corresponding to the operation target device designated by the designation operation means, wherein the designation operation means and the individual operation means are both operated by a voice of the operator. Is configured to be activated.

[0014]

According to the voice operation apparatus for an in-vehicle device according to the first aspect of the present invention, the operation target device is designated by, for example, a manual switch that is operated by the body motion of the operator, and the individual operation command to the designated device is voiced. Since the number of switches is reduced, the number of voice commands, that is, the number of vocabularies is reduced, and the voice recognition rate is improved, so that accuracy and operability are improved. The annoyance of specifying the target device and the individual operation command to the specified device by voice is released (for example, the “air conditioner” of “air conditioner, lower temperature” is unnecessary). In addition, there is also an advantage that the subsequent command word is naturally induced by the operator designating the target device by the operation.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the voice operation device for an on-vehicle device is configured to switch the recognition target word storage means corresponding to the device specified by the specification operation means, and therefore the number of words to be recognized at the same time. Is limited, and the recognition rate is greatly improved.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a voice operation device for an in-vehicle device, wherein the operation mode of the designation operation means, for example, the length of time when the switch is pressed when the designation operation means is a switch is determined, and the switch depression time is determined. When it is long, the operation command by voice input is executed, and when the switch pressing time is short, it is configured to execute the preset operation command (default command) without waiting for the voice input. Can be performed, for example, only by a switch operation, and the operability is improved.

In the voice operation device for an on-vehicle device according to the fourth aspect, since the trigger switch for detecting the section in which the voice is uttered and the switch for designating the operation target device can be used together, Voice recognition can be performed by a switch operation, and operability and voice recognition accuracy can be improved.

In the voice operating device for an on-vehicle device according to the fifth aspect, by displaying a menu and a mode of commands that the system can accept on the head-up display (HUD), it is possible to know the command word to be spoken, or Even if it is unknown which device is specified as the operation target, the command word can be confirmed safely without being restricted by the line of sight.

In the in-vehicle device voice operation apparatus according to the sixth aspect, both the designation of the operation target device and the individual operation of the designated device are performed by voice input. Since the switching means for switching the recognition target word storage means is provided correspondingly, the number of words to be recognized at the same time is limited, the recognition rate is improved, and the input operation means such as a switch is not provided as the designation operation means. There are good advantages.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration.

The on-vehicle device in this embodiment is, for example, an audio device, an air conditioner device, a car phone, a navigation system, a remote control mirror, an electric seat, or the like.

In FIG. 1, six manual switches 2a to 2f serve as the designated operation means for outputting a command signal for designating an operation target equipment from the above six on-vehicle equipments to the control section 3 (control means). It is provided on the handle 1. Then, by pressing the switch 2a, the audio device can be specified as the operation target device, by pressing the switch 2b, the air conditioner device can be specified as the operation target device, and so on.
By ~ 2f, the remaining devices can be designated as operation target devices.

The above-mentioned six on-vehicle devices are respectively provided with controllers 4a to 4f controlled by the control unit 3, and the controller of the operation target device designated by one of the steering switches 2a to 2f is the control unit 3. The operation command reception standby state is set by.

When the control unit 3 detects that one of the steering switches 2a to 2f is pressed, the control unit 3 receives a menu of voice commands that the operation target device designated by this switch can accept and what the operation target device is. An icon indicating whether or not there is is displayed on the windshield of the vehicle by the head-up display (HUD) 5. FIG. 1 shows a state in which a menu is displayed on the HUD 5 when the navigation system is selected by the steering switch 2c.

Further, the control unit 3 measures the time T during which the steering switch is pushed down, and if the time T is shorter than a predetermined value T ₀ , a default command (for example, a preassigned command to the steering switch is preliminarily assigned. When the switch 2b for operating the air conditioner is pressed, for example, switching of the air volume is executed, and a frequently used operation command can be immediately issued only by operating the steering switch without waiting for an operation command by voice. In this way, convenience is improved. On the other hand, when the time T during which the steering switch is pressed is equal to or greater than the predetermined value T ₀ , the recognition result of the voice recognition unit 6 is awaited, and the operation target device (in this case, the air conditioner device) is controlled according to the result. Is configured to.

In order to facilitate voice recognition by the voice recognition unit 6, six voice recognition dictionaries (recognition target word storage means) 7a to 7f storing recognition target words respectively corresponding to the six vehicle-mounted devices are provided. A prepared database 7 is prepared. Further, the voice recognition unit 6 selects a corresponding voice recognition dictionary according to the depressed steering switch from the six voice recognition dictionaries 7a to 7f.
And a speech section detection unit 9 for detecting a speech section of a voice input from a microphone 10 as a voice input unit.

Then, the voice recognition unit 6 switches the voice recognition dictionary according to the depressed steering switch, and the steering switch is used as a trigger switch for detecting the utterance section, with the steering switch being pressed, mainly. The speech uttered before and after the speech is compared with the dictionary for speech recognition, the speech is recognized, the keyword is extracted from the speech, the speech intention is estimated, and the result is sent to the control unit 3. . Table 1 below shows an example of speech recognition target words for each device.

[0028]

[Table 1]

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the operation of the control unit 3, the voice recognition unit 6, and the controllers 4a to 4f of each device. S represents each step.

S1 to S10 are flows showing the operation of the control unit 3, and S1 to S5 of them are detection flows of switch operation. First, it is determined whether or not one of the steering switches 2a to 2f is pushed down (S1), and the switch 2a
If one of ~ 2f is pushed down (S1: YES),
A timer for measuring the switch pressing time is started (S2). Next, it is determined whether or not the switch is released (S3), and when the switch is released (S3).
3: YES), the timer is stopped (S4), and the selected switch, that is, the designated operation target device name and the switch pressing time T are notified (S5).

Next, when the switch is pushed down in the standby state of the switch pushdown detection (S6), a menu is displayed on the HUD 5 according to the selected switch (S6).
7). Then, the switch pressing time T is compared with a predetermined time T ₀ (S8), and when T <T ₀ , the operation command is used as a default command (S9), and the operation command is transmitted to the controller of the operation target device (S10). .

S11 and S12 are flows showing the operation of the controllers 4a to 4f of the respective devices. When an operation command is received in the operation command standby state (S11), the device is operated according to this command (S12).

On the other hand, when the determination in S8 is T ≧ T ₀ ,
The voice recognition unit 6 executes the flow shown in S13 to S16. First, the utterance section detection unit 9 determines whether or not the utterance section has been detected (S13), and if the utterance section is not detected even if T ≧ T ₀ , the control section 3 is notified of the fact, and accordingly, As in the case of T <T ₀ , the control unit 3 sets the operation command as the default command (S9) and transmits the operation command to the controller of the operation target device (S10).

On the other hand, when the speech section detection unit 9 detects the speech section (S13: YES), the speech recognition unit 6
Switches the voice recognition dictionary according to the selected switch by the dictionary switching unit 8 (S14), and executes the voice recognition process by comparing the stored contents of the switched voice recognition dictionary with the voice input ( S15), the operation command is determined and output to the control unit 3. The control unit 3 transmits an operation command to the controller of the operation target device (S10), and the controller which has received the operation command operates the device according to this command (S11, S12).

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing the operation of the utterance section detecting section 9. For example, assuming that the steering switch 2b for selecting the air conditioner as an operation target device is pressed for a time longer than a predetermined time T ₀ and a voice input “lower the temperature a little” is input, the switch 2b is pressed. The lowering timing is during the utterance period
If (3) and within a predetermined silent period (2) and (4) before and after that, the utterance section detection unit 9 determines that there is an utterance, but the timing of pressing the switch 2b is (1), (5). As described above, if there is a silent period apart from the utterance section, it is determined that there is no utterance.

The above is one embodiment of the voice operation apparatus for an in-vehicle device according to the present invention, but as another embodiment,
Instead of the steering switches 2a to 2f as an input device for designating an operation target device, a proximity sensor (for example, an infrared sensor) is provided in each device, and when the device is touched with the hand, it is determined that the device is designated. Good. With such a configuration, it is not necessary to operate while checking where the small switch is while driving, and since it is sufficient to reach for the approximate position, safety is improved and the operation burden is also reduced. . Alternatively, instead of providing the proximity sensor, when any one of the plurality of switches included in each device is operated, it may be determined that the device is designated no matter which switch is operated.

Further, instead of displaying the menu on the HUD 5, the menu may be displayed on a display installed at a position of the dashboard which is easy to see even while driving. Further, instead of displaying which switch has been operated on the display means, when the switch for designating the operation target device is pressed, the operation target device is operated for a short time (for example, selecting an air conditioner device). When the steering switch 2b is pressed, the air volume of the air conditioner is temporarily changed), and it is possible to inform the driver which switch is pressed without restraining the line of sight.

Further, as the input means for designating the operation target device, a voice input means may be used instead of the switch operation described above. In that case, a switch is provided on the microphone, and the voice input when the switch is pressed is used as the input for designating the operation target device, and the voice input when the switch is released is used as the operation command for the operation target device. Can be

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a voice operating device for an in-vehicle device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing the operation of an utterance section detection unit included in the voice recognition unit of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Steering 2a-2f Steering switch (designating operation means) 3 Control part (control means) 4a-4f Equipment controller 5 Head-up display 6 Speech recognition part 7 Database 7a-7f Speech recognition dictionary (recognition target word storage means) 8 Dictionary switching unit 9 Speech period detection unit 10 Microphone

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Satoshi Morita 3-1, Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Mazda Motor Corporation

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A control means for remotely controlling a plurality of in-vehicle devices, a designation operation means for outputting a command signal for designating an operation target equipment to the control means, and an individual operation target equipment designated by the designation operation means. An in-vehicle means for outputting a command signal to the control means to the control means, wherein the designated operation means is operated by a physical motion of an operator, and the individual operation means is operated by a voice of the operator. Equipment voice control device. 2. A plurality of recognition target word storage means for storing recognition target words respectively corresponding to the plurality of vehicle-mounted devices, and a recognition target word storage means corresponding to the operation target device designated by the designation operation means. The voice operation device for an in-vehicle device according to claim 1, further comprising a switching means for switching. 3. The control means discriminates an operation mode of the designated operation means, and based on the discrimination, command execution by a command signal of the individual operation means and preset not depending on a command signal of the individual operation means. The voice operation device for an in-vehicle device according to claim 1, wherein the selected command execution is selected. 4. An utterance section detecting means for detecting a period during which a voice for operating the individual operating means is uttered,
3. The voice operation device for an on-vehicle device according to claim 1, wherein the utterance section detection means is operated in accordance with the operation of the designated operation means. 5. The voice operating device for a vehicle-mounted device according to claim 1, wherein a command word for operating the individual operating means is displayed on a head-up display. 6. A control means for remotely controlling a plurality of in-vehicle devices, a designation operation means for outputting a command signal for designating an operation target device to the control means, and a command for each equipment designated by the designation operation means. Corresponding to the individual operation means for outputting a signal to the control means, a plurality of recognition target word storage means provided corresponding to the plurality of in-vehicle devices for each device, and the operation target device designated by the designation operation means. And a switching means for switching the plurality of recognition target word storage means, wherein both the designation operation means and the individual operation means are operated by the voice of the operator.